Clearly branded sites 'can drive social bookmarking traffic'

15/08/2008

Businesses that utilise web design to make their sites adhere clearly to their brands may be able to keep visitors from social bookmarking sites on their pages for longer.

This is according to New Media Age (NMA), which cited the Guardian as an example of how online publishers can build their sites to get those reading one particular story to explore other parts of the website.

It explained that the newspaper's site has a consistent layout and design on each of its page to allow users to instantly recognise the brand.

Well-placed, relevant links on the page also help readers to click through to other sections of the website, NMA said.

Sean Clarke, special projects editor at the Guardian, commented: "We also make sure that articles have a reflection of what's going on now so that people popping in can see we're a live news organisation."

The Guardian recently completed a section-by-section redesign of its website to make the overall look of the site more consistent.